Final Finishes of 2023

Brumous is finished.

64" x 64"

Created using the Happy Stripes pattern from Quilty Love.

Quilted with all over liberated spirals using Glide thread in German Granit.

Here is the pieced backing which used up the rest of the wintery gnome fabrics.

I also used up quite a few of the leftover 2.5" strips in the scrappy binding.

And here it is on the kitchen table.

Khaki season is here, hence the brown yard (the grass will green again, but not until spring).

Here's a closer look so you can enjoy the quilted texture.

Gnomeville, our new January dining room wall quilt, is also finished.

24" wide x 36" long.

(no outdoor photos for either one since it has been wet and cold)

And, unsurprisingly, there were leftover pieces and parts from the two projects.

At this point, they're sewed together into a long slab that will become a runner.

The top, back, batting, and binding strips are ready to go, but FMQ and finishing will not happen until next year.

* * *

I'll be back on Sunday with my end-of-the year recap.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection.  With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock."

Queen Elizabeth II

FMQ Progress

The FMQ stitching is finished on Gnomeville . . . 

and the FMQ stitching on Brumous is underway (shown here after first session).

This is where things stood just before lunchtime.

* * *

Break's over - time to get back to it!

Quiltdivajulie

Monday Update

Little Man spent Friday with us since there was an in-service day at his school while Mommy and Daddy had to go to work.

After baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars with Dee Dah, he asked about making a quilt for his penguin stuffy (gifted by Mommy to Daddy years ago when they first started dating).

So . . . a bit of leftover Dr. Seuss coinage became the base.  And since the penguin likes red, this stripe was an obvious choice for the border, sashing strip, and binding.

Here's the four patch back (he couldn't decide which red/white he liked best so I offered this compromise which he happily accepted).

16.5" x 19"

I decided to use this thread for Inglenook.

And I'll use this one for Gnomeville and Brumous.

* * *

Despite all my positive/wishful thinking, the knee/leg is not getting better enough so I have an appointment with my ortho doc tomorrow.  

In the meantime, I've spent quite a bit of time working on my slow stitch journal.  

Only two final sections to stitch before I can re-assemble the book.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."

Eeyore (A.A. Milne)

More Pieces of Progress

The blocks for Brumous, the new January kitchen table quilt, are made and up on the design wall.

I want to do some re-arranging to eliminate the too dark blobs before clipping the blocks together so I can web the quilt top.

Gnomeville, the January dining room wall quilt, is pin basted (at long last).

And Inglenook is finally pin basted as well.

By chance, I happened upon the website of Ali Manning - Vintage Page Designs and the Handmade Book Club.

I watched her washi tape journal mini class and had a brainstorm.

What if I took five of my old daily stitching progress journals (that I've never once referred back to) and used them to make ROYGBIV journals/glue books as a long term project (and as a way to use up the Rolodex color wheel snippets once that project is done).

I used her method and some of my washi tape to transform the covers.

I have set aside a small basket for each of these so I can add bits and pieces as I find them - but I have promised myself I won't start in earnest until the 207 remaining pairs of Rolodex cards are collaged. 

On a related note, does anyone else feel guilty when they pull colorful Color Catchers from the washer and go to toss them in the trash?  

I have kept some of mine but wasn't sure how to use them for anything.

Until now.

Another washi tape journal cover with a repurposed file folder as the base is drying as I type.

Here's the inside cover.  

I think I might stitch some fabric snippets to the sheets before the two signatures (total of 8 color catchers) are sewn into the cover. 

Time will tell.

For now, it is back to the sewing studio . . .  

Quiltdivajulie

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"An artist is an explorer."

Henri Matisse

Studio Time - Part 1

Audrey over at Quilty Folk is proposing an informal quilt along - you can read about it near the end of this post.

She suggested we start digging in our stash for older fabrics to use.  I went with the colors in her fabric pull (shown near the end of that post) since I so admire her quilts and I didn't want to re-invent a color palette that might not have worked as well as hers.  

I decided it was time to move the three remaining seasonal dining room wall quilts forward (I was tired of them lurking about the studio).

January's Gnomeville is now ready for pin basting - that's the backing you see around the edges.

The runner pieced with Gnomeville's extra parts now has backing (upper - aged Moda diagonal stripe) and binding fabric (lower - more recent Art Gallery diagonal stripe) chosen and cut to size.

I've hung this project in the closet for now (sans batting) since it is not on my get-it-done-soon priority list.

Then I completely changed my plan for February's Heart Throb.  

Instead of using a panel, I went with these charm squares from a Moda line named Flirt (lots of hearts and love language text).  

Since this photo was taken, the squares were taken down and clipped and are now ready to web together into a top.

For March's Smaragdine, I cut the sixty alternate squares (KF's Moss Rose) and have paired/pinned so I can leader-ender the pairs as I work on the next few Dumpster Diving 12 blocks.

The Brandon Mably Chips yardage under the blocks will be used for backing and I went ahead and cut the binding strips while the Moss Rose yardage was out.

No more serious pondering for these three - only a need to sit and sew (or quilt).

* * *

I'll be back in a day or so with Part 2 to share the progress on my various paper-based projects.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do."

Steve Jobs

Progress Comes in Many Forms

I did manage to get two more blocks sewn for Dumpster Diving 12 - Confetti, but not until Wednesday afternoon.

While the iron was on, I pressed the various sections for January's dining room wall quilt - Gnomeville.  

As it turned out, the panel I thought I would add to widen the backing is not going to be needed so it will become a runner on its own.

I spent a morning sorting already-cut strips for January's new kitchen table quilt named Brumous (adjective meaning "of gray skies and winter days").

There will be sixty-four 8" (finished) blocks in the 64" x 64" quilt, hence the stack of plated strips.

Click HERE to read about my series of Kitchen Table Quilts if you aren't familiar with them.

In other news, DH hung up the artisan-made lavender Icelandic glass star that the kids give me for my birthday last month.   (They brought it home with them earlier in the year after their adventure in Iceland)

* * *

October and November are the months for a number of annual doctor appointments - so far all of my test results have been good.  

Two more to go - fingers crossed that the run of "good results" continues.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Being okay if it happens and okay if it doesn't is a very powerful place to be."

Kate Eckman

I Sewed

The top for Gnomeville (our January dining room wall quilt) is sewn together.

It measures 24" wide x 36" long at this point.

Here are the extra parts (to the right in the photo) sewn together for what will be a scrappy pieced back (shown laying on top of the flimsy).

The snowshoes fabric for the two sides of the back isn't long enough - so I'm going to more of the leftover 2.5" strips at the top and bottom to achieve the needed length for quilting.

Here's a better look at the fabrics in the unpressed top laying on the ironing table.

(and in case you missed the previously posted contextual reference photo which explains the color palette, click here)

* * *

Add another accomplishment to his ever-growing "Done It" list - Little Man took his first solo flight without Mommy or Daddy (but with this flight attendant) and is now enjoying a week of Fall Break with his other set of grandparents. 

Quiltdivajulie

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"It's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it."

Anne of Green Gables

Here, There, and Coming Soon

The backing for Coddiwomple has been pieced and pressed.

I used the same fabric for binding.  

I debated on a border but decided "no" since I love the top just the way it is.

This pin basted panel has been quilted and finished meaning Autumn Ridge is ready to hang on the dining room wall come October first.  

(finished photos later)

Heart Throb, a wall quilt for February is noodle-rolled and ready for pin basting.

(also a panel, it won't take long once the opportunity to sit and FMQ presents itself)

And then there is January.

I had cut a LOT of grayed neutrals into 2.5" strips to make a couple of comfort quilts that didn't happen.

The strips have been reclaimed and will be used to make a new January kitchen table quilt named Brumous.

(more on that in another post)

The rest of the strips will be used to make January's dining room wall quilt.

Some of you may remember my quilt named Comfortable that inspired Jo of Jo's Country Junction to make her Brick House quilt (see this post).  I'm going with a variation of Comfortable's process to make Gnomeville.

Why gnomes?  Scroll through this post and you'll see how this all fits together.

Gnomeville's segments have been cut and pinned - ready for leader ender action.

My quilt ladder had to be temporarily moved from its spot in our home office.

It now resides between Max's tables and my pressing table.  I like seeing it there so it may not go back to the office.

And since Little Man is with us until mid-month, I have his Gone Dotty quilt on my design wall.

I've made the binding (left) and hung the laundered backing fabric (to be pieced and pressed once I know how large the top finishes). 

Border strips were cut per Little Man's previous instructions. 

As time permits while he's here we'll work on this so he can, hopefully, take it home with him.

Needless to say you may not hear as much from me for a couple of weeks.

(this silly photo was taken during his first 'dress uniform day' as a first grader)

Quiltdivajulie

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"That's what it takes to get what you want.  Not big scary leaps once a year.  It takes small, but irritating moves every single day."

Mel Robbins